Football: Locals set for annual Shrine game Saturday at Dartmouth

Friday

Aug 1, 2014 at 2:00 AM

High school football players dream about playing in the Shrine Maple Sugar Bowl.

RYAN O'LEARY

High school football players dream about playing in the Shrine Maple Sugar Bowl.

The event spans generations and connects rivals. It's hosted by quality facilities and draws considerable fan interest. If anything, for a bunch of recent high school grads, it's a nostalgic last chance to play some ball with friends before hitting the college grind.

The game tends to steal the limelight around this time of summer, so close to the start of high school training camps.

It's an event that has raised more than $4.5M dollars over its first 60 years of existence, serving as an important and often life-changing fundraiser for the three Shriners hospitals in the Northeast. The proceeds from the event, both from the gate and the players' fundraising goals, help crippled and burned children get the treatment they need to survive — at no cost.

And how's this for going above and beyond? Exeter High School graduate Peter Lalime, who will represent the Blue Hawks along with teammate Collin Richardson at Saturday's game, is the No. 2 fundraiser among the players with $810; his personal goal was $500 — and there's still 93 days left to collect.

"I think it's been a great experience, going down to the Shrine hospital and seeing what it's all about," Epping's Joe Leclerc said. "They gave us a whole tour. They really kept repeating, over and over, how much this game helps them, all the donations that we collected, to be able to give free care to the children. I thought that was really great."

Lalime, Richardson, Leclerc and Newmarket's Jake Valinski will be among the 36 New Hampshire players raising money and making memories at Dartmouth College on Saturday. By the time the pregame festivities are over and it's time for kickoff, the Granite State will get back to work on a win streak that hit a baker's dozen with last year's 43-0 drubbing.

Numbers game

N.H. hasn't lost to Vermont since the millenium, and while the true spirit of the event comes out during the post-game proceed count, the lopsided numbers on the scoreboard have been hard to ignore.

Vermont, picking All-Stars from a much smaller pool, has long struggled to contend with New Hampshire in this series, and the discrepancy has only grown — just as the football has grown in the Granite State.

This we know: Over New Hampshire's current 13-game win streak, Vermont has only finished within a touchdown once, when it lost 23-20 in 2007. Vermont has lost by at least two touchdowns (14 points to be exact) in all of the other 12 games during New Hampshire's streak; it's also lost eight times by 20 or more and four times by 34 or more.

New Hampshire is 23-2 in the series over the past 25 years, but its never been more dominant than the past six years. Since Vermont's three-point loss in 2007, N.H. has won by an average margin of 32.3 points over six games; that includes its Shrine Bowl record 62 points scored in 2012.

The right fit?

Shrine Bowl officials acknowledged Vermont's struggles last summer by implementing a rules change with how New Hampshire can select its players.

In essence, there are restrictions in place as to the number of "big school" players New Hampshire can pull from. It explains how, for example, Epping's Leclerc was picked for the Shrine Bowl after not being selected for the CHaD East All-Star team back in June.

But the problem runs deeper than enrollment numbers (see last summer's blowout). Coaches and fans have long been voicing their opinions on the need to find New Hampshire a more competitive partner (Maine's Lobster Bowl, anybody?), but for now, tradition rules.

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